The Poems of John Clare Edited with an Introduction by J. W. Tibble |
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‘THE LASS WITH THE DELICATE AIR’ |
 | The Poems of John Clare |  |
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‘THE LASS WITH THE DELICATE AIR’
Timid and smiling, beautiful and shy,She drops her head at every passer-by.
Afraid of praise, she hurries down the streets
And turns away from every smile she meets.
The forward clown has many things to say
And holds her by the gown to make her stay.
The picture of good health she goes along,
Hale as the morn and happy as her song.
Yet there is one who never feels a fear
To whisper pleasing fancies in her ear;
Yet e'en from him she shuns a rude embrace,
And stooping holds her hands before her face—
She even shuns and fears the bolder wind,
And holds her shawl, and often looks behind.
| The Poems of John Clare | |